I am quite fond of fishing cats. I have played “hide and stalk” with a curious pal at the Cincinnati Zoo’s fishing cat exhibit on several occasions. By hide and stalk, I mean the peculiar human-feline interaction exhibited well by the famous “Stalking Cat”:

People have “connections” with their domestic pets all the time, and these mirthful moments more than justify all those unpleasantries in sharing a home with a beast. However, when one has such an interaction with a wild animal, it is thrilling—and feels almost like magic. At least, that is how it seems to me. So, I like fishing cats. The National Zoo in D.C. has a nice exhibit for fishing cats in its Asia Trail section where I have spent a bit of time, though I was never able to entice the cats into a game—not even the kittens born over the last few years. Still, they are fun to watch—especially since the National Zoo keeps live fish in their habitat for munchies. Kudos to the Smithsonian for resisting PETA-esque stupidity!

Last year, the National Zoo shared a video of mother Electra’s fishing techniques in front of her hopefully copycatting kitten Wasabi:

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Goldfish—always there to take one for another team.

Wasabi’s father Lek, by the way, came from the Cincinnati Zoo, where he was born.